Dental floss holder

ABSTRACT

A dental floss holder comprising a unit including a container for a spool of dental floss and a fork having tines across which the floss is stretched by manipulating a lock, the construction being such that the soiled floss never contacts the clean floss.

illitefl mics Patent [1 1 Knaus Sept. 18, 1973 DENTAL FLOSS HQLDER 211Appl. No.: 239,994

[52] U.S. (31 132/92 R [51] int. Cl A611: 15/90 [58] Field of Search132/91, 92 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,421,524l/l969 Waters 132/92 R 2,577,597 12/1951 Wright et al. 132/92 R1,833,671 11/1931 Byars 132/92 R 2,451,181 10/1948 Swartzman .1 132/92 RPrimary ExaminerLouis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-Gregory E. McNeillAtlorney-Warren H. F. Schmieding [57] ABSTRACT A dental floss holdercomprising a unit including a container for a spool of dental floss anda fork having tines across which the floss is stretched by manipulatinga lock, the construction being such that the soiled floss never contactsthe clean floss.

7 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTED SH 1 8 I975 sum 1 or 2 FIG.

FIG. .2

FIG.8

DENTAL FLOSS HOLDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of theInvention The invention is directed to dental floss holders in which thefloss is stretched between two tines of a fork and locked in stretchedposition.

2. Description of the Prior Art The prior art is disclosed in thepatents to Byars, US. Pat. No. 1,833,671; Atols, US. Pat. No. 2,516,539;Wright, et al, US. Pat. No. 2,577,597; and Parks, Jr., U.S. Pat. No.2,870,773. These patents disclose structure of the type in which thesoiled floss msut engage the clean floss when the floss is stretchedover tines, thus causing fouling of the floss prior to being in usableposition.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The dental floss holder comprising a unit thatincludes a container for a spool of dental floss and a fork having tinesabout which the floss is strung. Two paths ill cent the end of the body39 of the fork, then through a slot 38 in lock 26.

By pushing inwardly on the lock, the sections within the slots 24 and 38will be locked in position. During the locking action, those sectionswill be pulled downwardly resulting in pulling the floss tightly betweenthe ends of the tines l8 and 20.

The tines 18 and 20, in addition to extending downwardly from the yoke,extend outwardly as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2. The design of the unit issuch that easy access can be had not only for cleaning between the frontteeth, but also for cleaning between the extreme rear teeth.

A notch similar to notch 32 is provided in the yoke at the upper end oftine 20 whereby, instead of lacing the floss through notch 32, it can belaced in the notch located at the upper end of tine 20 and then strungalong the outer side of tine 20 through groove 36 of tine 20, thenthrough groove 34 in tine 18, then about 20 protuberance 37, thenthrough slot 38 in the lock 26.

l l 1| 1| i ll H Referring more in detailto the drawings, the con-Referring to FlGS. 2 and 4, it will be seen from FIG. 2 that floss canflow freely from the spool of floss, but when the lock 26 is pressedinwardly to the position shown in FIG. 5, the floss is locked inposition between the beads 94) and 92 and the lower walls that form thehole 7%, and is locked in position between the beads $6 and 88 and theupper walls that form the hole 70.

When the loci: 26 is in the locked position, as shown in H6. 5, thelower end thereof protrudes below the container 12. The locking can bereleased by pushing upwardly on the lower end of the lock.

The look as is formed preferably of resilient and flexible material.Referring to FiGS. and 7, it will be seen that the width of the lock,including beads 36, is greater than the width of the upper part of hole76} and that the width of the lock, including the beads 9d, is greaterthan the width of the lower part of hole '70, Thus, it will be observedthat, due to the fact that the lock is formed of flexible material, theslots till, $2 and d4 permit the pushing inwardly of the lock and alsoprovide for resiliently retaining the lock in locked position.

It can be seen, particularly from W68. 2 and d, that the distancebetween the lower part of beads 9d and 92 and the upper part of slots 24is less than the distance between the lower part of beads as and lid andthe upper part of slots 38. Therefore, the floss is locked in positionadjacent the spool 14 prior to being locked in position at the upperpart of the lock. Consequently, by pulling on the floss to the left ofthe lock and simultaneously pushing the lock inwardly, the floss isfirmly stretched across the tines. The stretch is also augmented whilethe floss is being pushed downwardly.

From the foregoing it is apparent that by virtur of the presentinvention, l have provided material improvements over the prior art ofdental floss holders. The holder of the present invention is relativelymore simple and, therefore, less expensive to produce. Too, by thepresent construction, the soiled section of the floss is never broughtinto contact with the clean section of floss.

Having described my invention, 1 claim:

i. A dental floss holder, comprising in combination:

A. means forming:

l. a hollow casing for receiving a spool of dental floss, said casinghaving: a. an end wall having:

i. a passage through which dental floss is threadable,

ii. a passage extending transversely of and through and intersecting thefirst mentioned passage,

b. a fork connected with the end wall, said fork having:

i. a pair of tines, each of said tines having a groove in the endsthereof for receiving a section of the dental floss,

ii. a notch adjacent the junction of the tines and forming a guide forthe floss;

E. a shif'table loci: in the second mentioned passage in the end wall,said lock having:

1. a passage alignable with the first mentioned passage in the end wallfor receiving a section of the dental floss,

2. a second passage disposed parallelly of the first mentioned passagein the lock for receiving another section of the dental floss, said lockbeing shiftable from a position in which the second passage thereof liesoutside said transverse passage in the end wall, to a position in whichthe first mentioned passage in the lock is in nonaligned position withthe passage in the end wall and in which the second mentioned passage inthe lock extends into the transverse passage in the end wall, the widthof the lock and the width of the walls forming the transverse passage inthe end wall being such so as to lock both sections of the floss betweenthe walls of the lock and the walls of the transverse passage in the endwall when the lock has been moved to the second mentioned position.

2. A dental floss holder as defined in claim l, characterized in thatthe transverse passage in the end wall extends through the container andfurther characterized in that the lock is extendable through thetransverse passage.

3. A dental floss holder as defined in claim 3, characterized in thatthe width of the transverse passage adja cent the first mentionedpassage in the lock is narrower than at the second mentioned passage inthe lock, and that the width of a section of the lock adjacent the firstmentioned passage in the end wall is narrower than that section of thelock lying adjacent the second mentioned passage in the lock.

3. A dental floss holder as defined in claim ll, characterized in thatthe sections of the lock that extend in the transverse passage in theend wall have a width that is greater than the width of the saidtransverse passage and are formed of flexible and resilient material.

5. A dental floss holder as defined in claim ll, characterized in thatthe lock is elongate and is formed of resilient and flexible materialand further characterized in that the lock is provided withlongitudinally extend ing passages that span the passages.

6. A dental floss holder as defined in claim 1, characterized in thatthe transverse passage in the end wall is non-circular and furthercharacterized in that the outer surface of the lock at least partlycomplements the inner surface of the said transverse passage.

7. A dental floss holder as defined in claim ll, characterized toinclude:

C. a thread cutter assembly comprising:

l. a base having:

a. flexible and resilient extensions,

2. a cutter blade fixed to the base; and further characterized in that awall of the casing includes:

holes that receive said extensions.

$ i X3 X2!

1. A dental floss holder, comprising in combination: A. meansforming:
 1. a hollow casing for receiving a spool of dental floss, saidcasing having: a. an end wall having: i. a passage through which dentalfloss is threadable, ii. a passage extending transversely of and throughand intersecting the first mentioned passage, b. a fork connected withthe end wall, said fork having: i. a pair of tines, each of said tineshaving a groove in the ends thereof for receiving a section of thedental floss, ii. a notch adjacent the junction of the tines and forminga guide for the floss; B. a shiftable lock in the second mentionedpassage in the end wall, said lock having:
 1. a passage alignable withthe first mentioned passage in the end wall for receiving a section ofthe dental floss,
 2. a second passage disposed parallelly of the firstmentioned passage in the lock for receiving another section of thedental floss, said lock being shiftable from a position in which thesecond passage thereof lies outside said transverse passage in the endwall, to a position in which the first mentioned passage in the lock isin nonaligned position with the passage in the end wall and in which thesecond mentioned passage in the lock extends into the transverse passagein the end wall, the width of the lock and the width of the wallsforming the transverse passage in the end wall being such so as to lockboth sections of the floss between the walls of the lock and the wallsof the transverse passage in the end wall when the lock has been movedto the second mentioned position.
 2. a cutter blade fixed to the base;and further characterized in that a wall of the casing includes: holesthat receive said extensions.
 2. A dental floss holder as defined inclaim 1, characterized in that the transverse passage in the end wallextends through the container and further characterized in that the lockis extendable through the transverse passage.
 2. a second passagedisposed parallelly of the first mentioned passage in the lock forreceiving another section of the dental floss, said lock being shiftablefrom a position in which the second passage thereof lies outside saidtransverse passage in the end wall, to a position in which the firstmentioned passage in the lock is in nonaligned position with the passagein the end wall and in which the second mentioned passage in the lockextends into the transverse passage in the end wall, the width of thelock and the width of the walls forming the transverse passage in theend wall being such so as to lock both sections of the floss between thewalls of the lock and the walls of the transverse passage in the endwall when the lock has been moved to the second mentioned position.
 3. Adental floss holder as defined in claim 1, characterized in that thewidth of the transverse passage adjacent the first mentioned passage inthe lock is narrower than at the second mentioned passage in the lock,and that the width of a section of the lock adjacent the first mentionedpassage in the end wall is narrower than that section of the lock lyingadjacent the second mentioned passage in the lock.
 4. A dental flossholder as defined in claim 1, characterized in that the sections of thelock that extend in the transverse passaGe in the end wall have a widththat is greater than the width of the said transverse passage and areformed of flexible and resilient material.
 5. A dental floss holder asdefined in claim 1, characterized in that the lock is elongate and isformed of resilient and flexible material and further characterized inthat the lock is provided with longitudinally extending passages thatspan the passages.
 6. A dental floss holder as defined in claim 1,characterized in that the transverse passage in the end wall isnon-circular and further characterized in that the outer surface of thelock at least partly complements the inner surface of the saidtransverse passage.
 7. A dental floss holder as defined in claim 1,characterized to include: C. a thread cutter assembly comprising: